Currently, users utilize network and other service providers to gain access to the Internet, access software services, request and receive various types of content, access software applications, and perform a variety of other tasks and functions. In order to do so, such users often utilize browsers or other software applications on computing devices, such as, but not limited to, personal computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, phablets, and other devices to access such services, content, and applications. However, as users have become increasingly comfortable with using such technologies, malware such as, but not limited to, computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, keyloggers, spyware, adware, and other malicious programs has also similarly increased. Such malware is often utilized by malware developers, fraudsters, and hackers to disrupt communications and to compromise personal, financial or other information associated with users and companies. Additionally, malware often disrupts communications and compromises information without the users or companies even knowing that such intrusions have taken place. As an example, a user may unknowingly visit a malicious website, and the user's device may be infected with malware without any warning or without the user's explicit consent. The malware may then be utilized by fraudsters to access the user's personal information, such as, but not limited to, social security information, financial information, driver's license information, or other personal information. Fraudsters may utilize such information to steal user identities, sign users up for fraudulent or even legitimate services without the user's consent, or perform a host of other fraudulent activities.
Many of the current malware attacks rely on tricking users into navigating to unknown uniform resource locators (URLs) that host zero-day exploits and drive-by-download attacks. Notably, such zero-day exploits and attacks are typically undetected by conventional anti-virus and anti-malware technologies, and are often capable of compromising many users' devices, personal accounts, and information in rapid fashion. In order to mitigate this problem, one solution is to use a proxy to block unknown, suspicious, and potentially compromised URLs. However, such proxies often do not have information about every URL that exists on the Internet or elsewhere, and, as a result, such a solution dramatically reduces a user's ability to browse many unknown URLs that are actually benign in nature. As another possible solution, a warning web page may be displayed on a user's internet browser whenever a user attempts to navigate to an unknown URL. Such warning web pages typically require some interaction with or acceptance from the user before the users proceed to the intended destination. While this solution often provides some awareness of potential malware to the user, the security decision is still placed on the user. By placing the security decision for proceeding on the user, this provides the user with the opportunity to accept the risk of proceeding and to navigate to a potentially malicious website that is associated with the URL.